By the time you read this, the new legislation for using mobile phones while driving will have come into force. Given the large number of people who ignored the previous regime, even to the extent of texting while driving, I suspect that many will continue to ignore the rule. It is simple. Do not use a hand held mobile phone, either to speak or to text, while driving. Note that you are still driving while the engine is running even if the vehicle is stationary. If you must use a hand held mobile phone, park the car and switch off the engine first. Failure to comply with the new rule means a fixed penalty of £60 and 3 penalty points and, if not paid, you will be taken to court where the fine could be up to £1,000 as well as 3 points. As the cost of a hands free kit that plugs into the cigarette lighter is less than £60 and saves your licence, it would appear to be a “no-brainer” to comply. Alternatively perhaps the same phrase applies to those who continue to hand hold.

Some time ago I wrote a series of articles on being a witness. They, together with all the other articles in this series, can be found on my web site and are worth reading should you be called to be a witness. However I continue to receive calls from people, who have been cited to give evidence and, for various reasons, are reluctant to do so. Though, with a few exceptions, you are not obliged to give a statement to the police that does not mean you cannot be cited to attend court as a witness either by the Procurator Fiscal or by the defence. If you are cited, you have to go. It is a criminal offence if you don’t, unless you have a very good excuse. Not having given a statement, having given one but not signed it, believing you have no relevant evidence to give, not being willing to give evidence, being related to the accused, not being able to get time off work, it will cost you, or you don’t have, money to attend or not having someone to look after the children are all among the many excuses that would not afford a defence to a charge of contempt of court for failing to attend and give evidence. If your employer will not let you attend, he is in contempt too. People get jailed for contempt. If you fail to attend, you could be remanded in custody and kept in jail until the day of the trial to ensure your attendance. Don’t simply ignore the citation and hope it will go away. It won’t and you might instead.

However courts, and the people who practise in them, are not inhuman. If there is a problem about attending as a witness, speak to the Procurator Fiscal or defence solicitor who cited you. It may be that your evidence can be agreed and you wouldn’t have to attend or some other arrangement made to help you. Do it as soon as possible. There are others involved who also have to be considered and, if you leave it to the last moment, you may find that there is no alternative but to order you to attend whether you like it or not.

I am also asked who is to be the lawyer for the witness as, after all, the Crown and accused both have lawyers. This is a misunderstanding of the role of, and duty on, the witness, which is simply to tell the truth. The words of the witness oath say it all. You are required to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Why do you need a lawyer if this is what you intend to do? If you intend to lie through your teeth or, as Thatcher apparently approved, “be economical with the truth”, then, and only then, will you require a lawyer.

Finishing on a lighter note, I read with some amusement of the case of the man jailed for robbing a taxi driver at knife point. As he had phoned from home and asked the taxi to pick him up there before robbing the driver, it wasn’t really difficult to identify the culprit. It is not thought that he will be applying for MENSA membership.